"Running the marathon took all of my strength and determination," Meghan told her friends, "and I couldn't have done it without you, my stalwart supporters."

Are you a word wiz?

Let's see how well you understand what "stalwart" means. Which of the following sentences do you think uses the word correctly?

A. The movie was funny and interesting but too stalwart for my taste.

B. We'll need a few stalwart workers to move the giant stones.

C. Even a stalwart plan requires that people do what they say they will.

D. Calligraphy requires skill, patience, and a stalwart hand.

"Stalwart" makes sense in sentence B, and it has some synonyms that could also do the job quite well. The simplest of these is "strong," which often implies the power of muscles, as in "strong arms"—or, to use a phrase from our example sentence, "strong workers." "Stout" is another synonym, and since "stout" suggests an ability to endure stress or pain, talking about "stout workers" would be perfectly reasonable. "Sturdy" is another synonym of "stalwart," and although it's more often used to describe objects that are strong (as in "a sturdy table"), the phrase "sturdy workers" is not a misuse. "Stalwart" is unique, though, in suggesting an unshakeable dependability—so we'll take "stalwart workers" over the others any day.